1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a small-sized vehicle for allowing about one or two persons to ride therein. In particular, the present invention relates to a small-sized vehicle having a body that is relatively narrow in width and including a single driver""s seat.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, from the viewpoint of reducing the amount of exhaust gas and power consumption of a vehicle, a small-sized vehicle which allows about one or two persons to ride therein has been developed and practically used.
Such a small-sized vehicle includes an engine having a small displacement or an electric motor (or a combination of an engine and an electric motor). The vehicle is used as a means to allow a small number of persons to be easily moved with reduced fuel consumption and a reduced amount of exhaust gas.
A small-sized vehicle of this type is known from Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 9-286348. This small-sized vehicle has a body structure including a body frame formed by a pipe made from a metal such as aluminum. The frame is covered with a resin made body cover divided into two parts in the vertical direction, wherein the upper body cover constitutes a roof and the lower body cover constitutes a driver""s seat portion. Furthermore, these body covers constitute a cabin for a single driver""s seat.
A small-sized vehicle of this type requires not only a reduction in weight, but also a reduction in cost by simplifying the structure of the vehicle to reduce the number of parts and the assembling steps. Such a small-sized vehicle is used as an easy moving means; however, in order for a driver to use the vehicle comfortably, it is required that a pocket for containing a driver""s portable articles be provided in a cabin of the vehicle.
For a small-sized vehicle of this type, however, it is difficult to ensure a pocket space large enough to contain a driver""s portable articles because the size of the body of the vehicle is relatively small when compared to traditional vehicles. In particular, for a small-sized vehicle of a single driver""s seat type or a tandem type including a single driver""s seat and a pillion disposed behind the driver""s seat, the width of the driver""s seat portion is narrow. Accordingly, a space in front of the driver""s seat portion is occupied by parts necessary for operation of the vehicle, such as a steering wheel, meters, an accelerator pedal, and a brake pedal. In view of this, only a very narrow pocket space remains for containing a driver""s portable articles.
In view of the foregoing, an object of the present invention is to provide a small-sized vehicle capable of making effective use of a space in front of a driver""s seat while ensuring a simple structure.
A specific object of the present invention is to provide a small-sized vehicle in which a convenient pocket is provided in a single driver""s seat portion. Furthermore, a rake master cylinder is disposed in the vehicle by making effective use of space within he vehicle without any reduction of the capacity of the pocket. In addition, the maintenance of a reservoir tank of the brake master cylinder thus disposed is ensured.
Other objects will be clearly understood in the following description.
To achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a small-sized vehicle including only one driver""s seat, comprising: an inner panel provided with a pocket and having a width nearly equal to the width of a body of the vehicle is provided in front of the driver""s seat; and a meter is disposed in the pocket at a position offset from the center in the width direction of the body of the vehicle.
The vehicular width of a small-sized vehicle of a single driver""s seat type is essentially narrow. Accordingly, even if a pocket having a width nearly equal to the width of the vehicle is formed in front of the driver""s seat, the capacity of the pocket is still insufficient. On the other hand, it may be considered that a meter should be provided in front of the driver""s seat at the center in the width direction of the body of the vehicle, since a meter at the center is easily visible to a driver. If the meter is disposed in the pocket at the center in the width direction of the body of the vehicle under such a consideration, then the inside of the pocket is equally divided into relatively small capacity parts on both sides of the meter. These relatively small capacity pocket parts disposed on both sides of the meter can contain only relatively small articles. That is to say, the usability of these relatively small capacity pocket parts is poor. On the contrary, according to the present invention, since the meter is disposed in the pocket at a position offset from the center in the width direction of the vehicular body, a small capacity pocket part and a large capacity pocket part are formed on the right and left sides of the meter. As a result, the small and large capacity pocket parts can be used according to the sizes of articles to be contained.
In the small-sized vehicle according to the present invention, preferably, the meter is disposed in the pocket at a position offset rightwardly from the center in the width direction of the vehicular body; a steering column is disposed in such a manner as to extend along an approximately center line in the width direction of the body of the vehicle; an accelerator pedal and a brake pedal are disposed on the right side of the steering column; and a brake master cylinder connected to the brake pedal is disposed behind the meter disposed in the pocket of the inner panel.
With this configuration, it is possible to realize a layout which is convenient to a driver, since the steering column is disposed along an approximately center line in the width direction of the body of the vehicle and the accelerator pedal and brake pedal are disposed on the right side of the steering column. Furthermore, since the brake master cylinder connected to the brake pedal is disposed substantially directly over the brake pedal, it is possible to connect the brake pedal to the brake master cylinder with a simple mechanism. This eliminates the inconvenience of the brake master cylinder projecting into a portion, other than the meter portion, of the pocket and hence to ensures a sufficient pocket capacity.
In the small-sized vehicle according to the present invention, preferably, a steering column cover projecting forwardly from the inner panel is formed integrally with the inner panel by resin molding; and a front end portion of the steering column cover is formed into a shape which allows the front end portion to be raised via a hinge; whereby when the front end portion of the steering column cover is raised, a space formed behind the steering column cover is opened, to allow a reservoir tank of the brake master cylinder be visually checked through the space.
With this configuration, upon inspection or the like, an operator can easily visually check the oil level of the reservoir tank through a space formed around the steering column by raising the front end portion of the steering column cover. In particular, for a small-sized vehicle, since the main device requiring maintenance such as the power unit is disposed at a rear portion of the vehicle and the steering mechanism not requiring as much maintenance is disposed at a front portion of the vehicle, a front body cover can be configured as a molded integral part having a simple, inexpensive structure with no openable bonnet. By adopting the structure of the present invention which allows for visual checking of the reservoir tank, it is possible to configure the front body cover as a molded integral part while allowing for easy maintenance.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.